November 2012--The Fondation Jérôme Lejeune awarded Roger Reeves, professor of physiology and member of the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine, a 2012 Sisley-Jérôme Lejeune International Award for Translational Research in Intellectual Disabilities. Reeves received the award, which included a 20,000€ cash prize, at a ceremony on Nov. 22, in Paris, France.

Reeves studies Down syndrome, which occurs when someone inherits three copies of chromosome 21 instead of two copies. Using a mouse model of the disease, he and his colleagues treated mice with drugs that corrected developmental problems in the parts of the brain important for learning and memory, like the hippocampus and the cerebellum. One of these drugs is currently in clinical trials for the purpose of improving cognition and direction sensing in people with Down syndrome.

In honor of his award, the Department of Physiology is sponsoring a special lecture to be given by Reeves entitled “From Mice to Mind: Translational Science in Down Syndrome.” The lecture will be held on Wednesday, Dec. 5 at 12 p.m. in the Mountcastle Auditorium at the Johns Hopkins University East Baltimore Campus.